25 Surprising Space Exploration Facts You Didn’t Know

Posted by , Updated on March 23, 2024

Space is an insane realm. While space and its exploration frequently appear in our science fiction narratives and films, the majority of us are not really knowledgeable about it. Space is an enigmatic area brimming with phenomena that are beyond our comprehension, such as black holes, radiation, and asteroid belts.

For as long as humanity has been around, space has played an important role in our lives. In fact, space and the stars have played a significant role in shaping the world today as we know it. Without the stars, sailors would not have been able to navigate on the open seas, causing trade and exploration to be severely crippled. It’s crazy to think about, but countries in the Americas and Australasia would probably have looked significantly different without their European influence. Although that is an interesting thought experiment, it is not the topic of today’s conversation. In this list we are going to be taking a closer look at that profound, black darkness that is always hanging over our heads.

In spite of our near constant fascination with space, there are still many things left to discover about it. And although that is the job of scientists, these are 25 Facts About Space And Space Exploration You Might Not Have Realized!

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25

There is a water reservoir in deep space that holds 140 trillion times all of the water on Earth.

waterSource: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
24

Scientists at NASA have actually discovered stars that are cool enough to touch.

brown dwarfSource: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
23

After Earth, Venus's clouds are possibly the most habitable spot for humans in the Solar System.

earth, venusSource: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
22

Tortoises orbited the moon before humans because the Russians sent them there to test one of their probes.

tortoiseSource: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
21

The footprints left by the astronauts on the moon will stay there forever (or at least until something happens to the moon) because there is no atmosphere and therefore no wind.

MoonwalkSource: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
20

The Germans were actually the first to go into space with their V2 rocket.

v2Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
19

Speaking of going into space, typically space is seen to begin at 100km above the surface of the Earth. This is known as the Kármán line. This is the point where the atmosphere becomes too thin to support aeronautical flight because an aircraft would have to surpass orbital velocity in order to achieve sufficient lift.

spaceSource: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
18

You can cry in space but your tears won't fall. They'll just...stay there. And then float away.

TearsSource: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
17

The first creatures conceived in space were cockroaches. The Russians reported that they grew faster and stronger than their Earth bound counterparts.

cockroachSource: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
16

In space, the skin on the bottom of your feet starts to peel off because you are not walking around (the skin becomes soft due to not being used, so astronauts have to be careful when taking off their socks otherwise bits of skin will start floating around the ship!)

FeetSource: nasa, Image: pixabay
15

Apollo 13, Armageddon, and Around The World In 80 Days are among the movies kept on the International Space Station.

international space stationSource: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia

Interested in space discoveries? Check out 25 Recent Space Discoveries That Blew Our Minds.

14

Because there is no gravity in space, astronauts are unable to tell if their bladders are full. For this reason they are trained to relieve themselves every 2 hours.

funny restroom signSource: wikipedia, Image: Chad Kainz via Flickr
13

There are four dwarf planets in our solar system - Puto, Ceres, Eres, and Makemake.

PlutoSource: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
12

Boomerangs will return to you even in space as Japanese astronaut Takao Doi found out when he tried it inside the International Space Station. This is because boomerangs don't require gravity to function. They only require air.

boomerangSource: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
11

As of this writing, only 24 people have seen our entire planet with their own eyes.

AstronautSource: wikipedia
10

If you lived on the International Space Station, you would witness about 15 sunsets every day.

sunset in spaceSource: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
9

NASA sent part of Sir Isaac Newton's apple tree into space to "defy gravity."

isaac newtonSource: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
8

In 1977, researchers received a signal from deep space that lasted 72 seconds. Known as the Wow! signal, it is the only radio transmission we have received that has appeared to be from an intelligent source. It was determined to have originated near the star Tau Sagittarii in the constellation Sagittarius.

radio dishSource: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia

Note: It had so many trademarks of what we would expect from an intelligent source, that when scientists couldn’t find it again they hypothesized that it could have come from Earth and bounced off of some space debris (this theory was later held to be very unlikely).

7

You can't burp in space. The liquids and gasses in your stomach don't separate in 0 gravity, so it would be more like acid reflux.

BurpSource: wikipedia, Image: Tim Regan via Flickr
6

Although Saturn is the second biggest planet in the solar system, it's the lightest!

SaturnSource: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
5

In space, metal objects stick together. This is due to a process known as "cold welding." This doesn't happen on Earth because of the oxygen in our atmosphere.

MetalSource: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
4

Costing $150 billion, the International Space Station is the most expensive structure ever built.

international space stationSource: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
3

Astronauts grow up to 2 inches in space! This is because our spine elongates when there is less gravity.

astronautSource: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
2

NASA is developing 3D printed pizza for astronauts.

pizzaSource: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
1

Without a space suit, a human could potentially last up to 90 seconds in space although you would almost certainly pass out long before then.

moon walkSource: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia

If you enjoyed this post, you’ll also like this one: 25 Useless Facts About Space That Are Still Cool To Know.